Wordpress CMS

The Problem

The hardest part of managing/maintaining any website, is controlling the websites content. The content being all text, images, videos and other documents that are acessible through your website.

These are difficult to manage because websites are heavily dependant on coding languages such as HTML and CSS to function, and most of these languages are not what we call “User Friendly” and can take months, if not years to learn.

Without the ability to interpret and edit this code, your website would remain static, and hiring a developer to change small details such as a phone number or email address just isn’t worth the hassle.

The Solution

In comes a Content Management System (CMS)!

A CMS, such as WordPress, is a web-based application that allows users to “manage” their websites through a simple user interface (or dashboard) without having to modify any core files, or code.

After uploading files, or editing text on a page in the dashboard, your changes are stored in a private Database. This data is then fed to a collection of code files called a “Theme”.

These files arrange your data to a set of rules which make up the look and feel of your website, and make it accessable to the public.

Why WordPress?

As you may have guessed, there are many other CMS’ other than WordPress available; these include (but are not limited to) Drupal, Joomla and Magento.

At Bottlenose Creative, we prefer to use WordPress over other options for a variety of reasons:

Client UsabilityCompared to most other CMS’, wordpress has a very simple to learn user interface which makes managing your website quicker & easier.

FunctionalityWordPress is open-source, which means there’s a large community of developers working to make the experience better for everyone.

PluginsWordPress has a massive collection of official and community-made plugins available, which can help speed up the development of your site.

Support & UpdatesMost importantly, because there are over 74million websites using WordPress, the support community is massive and most problems are easily diagnosed with a quick google search. Not to mention WordPress is regularly updated and patched to reduce security risks.

What about DIY services like Wix?

There are many other popular web-management solutions, including Wix, SquareSpace and Weebly, however these don’t come under the term “Content Management Systems”.

These services exist to allow small businesses to design and develop websites on their own, without needing to hire the services of a web designer/developer.

While at face value this seems like a good option for saving money, be aware that using services such as Wix comes with it’s own disadvantages, including bad browser/device support, invalid code, low Search Engine Optimisation, locked up data and hidden fees/payments.

The main advantage of having your website built by a developer on WordPress, is the main investment is up front. Once your website is launched, your only on-going payments are your domain registration and hosting – which are incredibly affordable!

However, if you do go the DIY route, Bottlenose Creative recommends SquareSpace. Their themes/templates are all mobile responsive and produce validating code.